Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-10-03

and crash as made us believe that the heavens
and the earth had come together We sprang
ND with shouts of alarm, no one remembering
for the moment just where we were linen
there came more grinding and crunching and
crushing, and directly after that all was stlll
except the bowling of the gale, and we We're
driving along as quietly as before.
.IYe'ye had a collision with another berg"
explained the mate, "and think all danger
has passed"
He advised us to return to our sleep, but
every man had had enough, and every eye
was wide open when the first signs of day
light appeared The fall of snow was not so
heavy, although We could not have seen a
second berg as large as ours half mile
away, but the wind was blowing living
gale and held steady from the old quarter
The mercury had dropped to zero or lower,
but the great skins under MS had Kept us
comfortable through the night We sat and
looked out on the storm and the troubled sea
for IA long time before any man moved or
made suggestion Then, when day had
fully dawned, the mate sad:
We'll, men nothing is ever as bad as it
looks at first sight. Tue storm can't last the
day out, and You may be sure the ship viii
not lower for another whale until she over
hauls u.s. We've got bread and meat, and
we'll try for q fire.
He was the first man out of the cave. | ex-
pect we'd all been preparing ourselves to find
the boat smashed tn splInterS or gone entirely,
for when Mr. Wharton called that she was all
right, a great load was lifted from our
minds To get a fire wemust have wood,
nl lgaf
must sacrifice Some portion of the boat, The
door to the locker in the stern sheets was I'M
hinged. and a couple cf the men fell to and
made shavings and Kin1liDgs of it. Then
some of the entrails and fat we're cut up into
small pieces, and we started fire at the door
Of our cave, As soon as the kindlings were
alight we put on pieces OF fat, and there was
a cheer all around as the fire began to blaze
up and throw out its warmth. Then we fell
To. each man for himself and cut off as much
meat as we wanted and held it over the blaze
on splinters. Despite the poor roasting and
the absence of salt we made a hearty meal
and the fire was soon after smothered out.
/ In clear weather 1t would have sent out a
smoke TO he seen twenty miles from the
/ crows nest of a whaleF, but with that thick
atmosphere shutting us i'll, it was simply
burning up precious fuel for nothing.
/ Although it had been showing for so many
hours, and showing in way to have made
| drifts ten feet high on land very little of it
/ had remained on the berg, owing, of course
/ to the high winds blowing over it. The mate
! gave us leave to scatter for a look around
/ though warning us against taking any
/ chances and presently l found myself in hi:
/ company as walked part way along the
| length of the shelf and came to a spot upon
which we could climb with a promise OF &
| view to windward Up we went, making oul
{ feet sure at every step, and the bowling oi
| the gale all the time seeming nearer, an,
| bv and bye We looked ont between two PIN
nacles and had square look into the face Of
! the storm We were not yet at the top Of
the berg by any means, but had struck &
| sort of rift in the center of it aud about forty
feet above the sea. A more forhdding sigh
/ never looked upon. The sea was il a per
( feet turmoil, tiiuging spray almost as high a.
1 our faces, and two other bergs, each seem
ingly as large rs our own, We're in sight
| through the haze. One was on what might
be called our starbnard bow, and the Other
! on the starboard quarter and the three of II,
| were driving off to the west under the inlu
| ence Of the waves and the gale. Above nul
heads, around the icy pinnacles and steepleS
the wind shrieked and screamed and whistlet
in a way to make ones hair stand up on end
Nelson" said the mate as We clambere,
part way down and stopped to rest, what d,
you think of our chances"
Well sir. its bad fix We can't looI
| for any change under three days at the least
know the ship will look for us, but the pacl
ice NAV drive down too heavy for her, or W,
may be too widely separated. However, W,
have the chance of being sighted by another
whaler."
That's all true he said in a gloomy voice
land we must keep up our spirits The mos
fear just now is another collision"
We scrambled down to the shelf, and theme,
along to the cave, where we found the Othe
three. They had also obtained a look t
windward, and every face was gloomy
enough We had been worn ont aboard tn
whaler for want of sleep, and after a littl
we all began to doze, and then fell off int,
slumher, and it was after noon by the mate
watch before We were aroused. Then it wa
by another grinding and cruDching, and b,
feeling the wind shrieEing about Us, and W
turned out to find that our berg was swing
ing around TO the gale, while it was at tn
same time forcing its way through heavy
pack ice. In half an hour more our cav
faced to windward, and the grinding wa
something positively awful We were al
set in tremble at the way the berg quiverel
and shook and threatened to go to pieces, anC
while Williams, who was the youngest Of all
/ fell to crying like woman, some of the other
/ called upon God to save rs. The berg kept
/ swinging, and by . o'clock we were again OF
| the lee side, and now we could look right dow
| on the tremendous struggle between our berg
! and the heavy lee which covered the sea for
| miles around Us. The berg was driving faster
/ than tn ice, and nothing couli check its
/ progress. As it pushed steadily through tht
/ pack the grinding was as if thunderbolts We're
/ ripping through forest We did not wing
/ but that once, though the gale did not break
! until midnight.
| Just before dark we lighted our fire again
and cooked some more meat, and that night
we all slept soundly The next dav dawned
bright and clear with the wind blowing from
thesouth, and before noon the ice most exposed
to the sun was thawisg We had q clear sky,
and could see for miles around Us, and grand
sight it was. The pack ice had mostly gone of
to the west, but there were a score of big and
little bergs in view We kept the breakfast fire
going all day as a beacon fire, smotherng it
down occasionally to make a black smoke,
and we ramhed about good deal over the
berg We started up three white foxes, hut
Us we dared not use the muskets for fear that
the conclusion might work us harm, made
no captures. The night came on tranquil
with the wind going to the west and holding
balmy, and we had nothing to disturb us In
the morning. as we We're toasting our meat we
| felt a tremendous culver run through the berg,
and next moment good third of 1t split OF
with terrible crash and flOated away from
us. The loss of this portion gave us bad list
to port, and for half an hour we were in mo
mentary expectation of the berg capsizing. II
fioated steadily, however, and by and by We
were reassured, and began to walk about
again, while the fire sent up a smoke which
could be seen many miles away.
1t was about an hour after noon, and tbs
mate was making ready to remove thwart
from the boat to use for kindling, when the
Scottish steam whaler Highlander suddenly
rounded great berg to the southeast of us,
and came into full view of one of the men
who had just climbed up for lookout. She had
| seen our smoke and had been making toward
us for hours An hour after she was first seen
we were aboard of her, and it isn't for the pur-
| pose of exaggerating the perils of our adven-
ture that tell you we had not steamed two
| miles from that berg when it split in three
| portions with thunderous sounds, and every
| portion turned turtle
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